Eighteen Months to Live

Last year, I had the pleasure of teaching one of the sweetest students that I've ever had....sweet spirit, contagious smile, optimistic, and she was also a hard-working student.  She was in and out of the hospital the year I taught her, but when she got better and came back to school, she always inspired me.  Laura was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was just an infant, she has a brother and a nephew that both have CF as well.   You would never know by just looking at her, and you definitely wouldn't know by talking to her.  She's different than other kids her age, but in a great way.

Laura is now in high school as a freshman, but was recently told by her doctors that she has eighteen months to live.  Can you imagine?  The dreams of being married, being a mother, going to college, etc, not becoming a reality??   Yet, she continues to persevere and stay positive.  She's been on Kiss 106.1 FM and the news to raise awareness.  The student body at MBHS have started making bracelets and shirts to raise money for Laura, but you know what...all the money that's donated, Laura wants to give for her brother and nephew in hopes there will be a cure for them.  If that isn't selfless, I don't know what is.

Since finding out the news, I've had many restless nights full of questions.  "Lord, does she know you as her healer, redeemer, and Savior?"  "Does she know about your promise of a new body, CF-free, one day?"  "Does she know that you died on the cross for her sins?"  "Does she know that you've prepared a place for her when she dies?"  A couple of nights ago, the Lord spoke to me and told me that I had to be the one to tell her the good news.  I told Shawn that I needed he and the kids to take me to Children's Medical Center first thing today.  I felt like I needed to get their fast because I knew with all the visitors, doctors, nurses, social workers, etc, I'd not only be battling Satan, but I'd be wrestling with time.   I prayed that the Lord would work out all the details, in fact, we ran into HORRIBLE traffic on the way there, but I kept praising the Lord, knowing why he had us stuck in that traffic for this very purpose.  I explained to our kids that Laura was one of mommy's students who was sick and that we were going to visit her in the hospital.  And, of course, Shawn felt like he already knew Laura, because of all the talking I had done about her.

We made our way to the 7th floor and worked our way to Laura's room.  On the way, doors were wide open and you could see each and every patient.  My stomach was sick and it ached seeing kids that were fighting for every second of life.  The clowns came around to each room, nurses were playing guitars, it had to be the happiest floor of the hospital.  When I got there, someone was running tests on Laura, but thankfully; the nurse was pretty much done.  I introduced Shawn, Faith, and Jaxon to Laura, and then sent my sweet family on their way so I could have some alone time with her. We talked for a bit and then I gave Laura a bracelet.  She LOVES bracelets. But, this bracelet was unlike one she'd seen before...this bracelet was the salvation bead bracelet. I never intended on using the salvation bracelet with Laura, but I felt this is what I was supposed to use.  Before explaining what each bead meant, I wanted to ask her some questions about her spiritual background.  She explained to me that she is Catholic and where she attended church when she could go.  She knew nothing about heaven and didn't even know about Jesus dying on the cross.  I started out with a small story and then talked about what each colored bead symbolized.  At the end of our conversation, I asked Laura if she wanted to be 100% sure that she'd be with Jesus in heaven one day when she leaves this earth.  With one big and beautiful grin, she said, "YES!!" We held hands and prayed a small prayer of salvation.  The emotions were overwhelming and I knew the angels were rejoicing. It wasn't just a prayer, though, Laura was so excited about her new faith and she was excited to tell her family and friends the salvation story with her new bracelet.  God had everything planned to a tee  because the second we were were done, the knocks commenced with all sorts of people needing to run a test, take notes, do a survey, etc.  It's like the angels blocked the door just so I could have that small slice of time with her.   I was so thankful that the Lord used me as an empty vessel  in this capacity to introduce Laura to her Savior.   She'll never be the same!

Me and Laura

The clowns entertaining, two, perfectly healthy kids.  They have no clue how fortunate they really are,  and Shawn and I plan on having them volunteer here when they get older.

This is where Shawn took the kids during my visit with Laura.  I love this humongous train set-up.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.   Revelation 3:20